Tatra Banka, a.s., Bratislava netted 1.28 billion crowns last year, compared to 900 million crowns in 1997. Total assets swelled from about 40 billion crowns in 1997 to 45.76 billion crowns last year. It was the second year of heavy gains for the Autrian-owned bank, which whose assets were valued at 32 billion crowns in 1996.
As of December 31, 1998, Tatra Banka registered claims towards clients at 21.74 billion crowns, while its claims towards banks were 12.31 billion crowns. Liabilities towards clients accounted for 28.68 billion crowns, while those towards banks were at 10.89 billion crowns.
The bank possessed securities worth almost 6 billion crowns, while sold assets with an option of a repurchase equaled 1.1 billion crowns. Its registered capital totaled 522.16 million crowns, and its reserves amounted to 1.09 billion crowns. Undistributed profit from previous years equaled 1.68 billion crowns.
The bank intends to extend the scale of its services by provision of mortgage loans. Therefore, the bank wants to increase the volume of its share capital to 1.04 billion crowns. The hike is to be decided at a special meeting of Tatra Banka shareholders, scheduled for May 13.
Six new Tatra bank branches opened last year, bring the total to 28 last year. The number of employees exceeded 800 at the end of 1998, compared to 593 at the end of 1996. Its rating by various international agencies places it among the top banking houses in Slovakia and its guarantees are internationally accepted.
The majority shareholder in Tatra Bank is Raiffeisen Banking Group of Austria which increased its stake from 52 percent to the current 70.76 through a public takeover bid last November.
